Vince Gill Calls Patty Loveless His ‘Most Seamless-Sounding’ Duet Partner

Vince Gill has duetted with his share of country ladies throughout his musical career. The country legend's award-winning duets include, among others, "The Heart Won't Life" with Reba McEntire and "I Will Always Love You" with Dolly Parton. But there's one singer in particular whose voice is "magical" when paired with Gill's.

"To me, one of the most seamless-sounding partners has been Patty Loveless," Gill tells the Houston Press. "I think we only maybe did one 'real' duet together over all these years, but we both sang on each other's first hit records."

The pair started making music together in the mid-'80s, when Loveless made her first record, and Gill recalls, "There's something magical about our voices together that I was always drawn to. She sang on "When I Call Your Name," "Pocket Full of Gold," and I sang on a bunch of her hits — "If My Heart Had Windows," and then backgrounds on probably 15 or 20 of her records over the years."

Gill and Loveless also memorably sang together at George Jones' funeral, performing "Go Rest High on That Mountain," although Gill was too emotional to complete the whole song.

Gill's storied career also includes other significant duets, and Gill says, "Dolly would be a great one; getting to do "I Will Always Love You" with her. Anything I've ever done with Allison Krauss has been pretty magical."

In a duet, the most important aspect is the voices joining together, says Gill -- but he believes that the two voices don't necessarily need to sound alike to do that successfully.

"I think the blend of voices [is key]. They don't have to sound alike. They just have to work together," Gill explains. "You know, Tammy Wynette and George Jones didn't sound anything alike. There's all the famous brother duets, like the Everly Brothers and Louvin Brothers. Those sounded so amazing because they were seamless. They were like one person."

See a Childhood Photo of Vince Gill